New audio edition of “Rabbits”

One of my favorite short stories that I’ve written is the story “The Secret of Calling Rabbits,” which originally appeared in the anthology The Way of the Wizard. There’s something charming about the interaction between the tough dwarf and the sweet little girl, and I can’t actually read it out loud because I get teary.

Luckily, there’s a new recording “The Secret of Calling Rabbits” up at Far Fetched Fables. It’s a lovely recording, so go enjoy it!

The Powell’s Column

It’s a rite of passage for every SF/F writer, especially those of us in the Pacific Northwest: signing the legendary column in Powell’s Gold Room. For a measure of the artifact’s true awesomeness, here’s a photo from the Powell’s Tumblr. Yes, that is Douglas Adams’ signature. And Peter S. Beagle’s. And Ursula K. LeGuin’s. Neil Gaiman has particularly epic piece of art he added to the column a few years back.

So when a group of us local writing gals met up with an out-of-town friend—the talented Tex Thompson—we knew we had to take her to see this holiest of all landmarks. You can’t help but feel the presence of the great ones when you’re standing next to their scrawled messages. Elizabeth Scarborough left her email address! Brian Froud drew a fairy! I mean, how cool is that?

Staff in the Gold Room were just as geeked out about it as we were. Over the past few years, one of the staffers has stepped up to advocate for the preservation of the post, and Powell’s is going to install a new UV-protective plexi covering that will help keep the signatures fresh for future generations. If you look closely, you can see the ghostly shapes of previous signatures, now nearly lost in time.

But the signatures of our little gang are bright and shiny  (and right next to Wesley Chu‘s autograph! What a great place to be!). I’ve been waiting to sign the column until I felt like “a real writer,” but with a lot of chocolate under my belt and in the presence of awesome fun friends like Tina Connolly (who hadn’t signed either, even though she has like four books out and a Nebula nomination and is basically my hero), Alex Renwick (who already signed the column like a total pro, because that’s how she rolls), and Tex, it just seemed like the right thing to do.

Squee!

powells column

Photo by Arianne “Tex” Thompson, who rocks.

A sneak peek at Queers Destroy Horror!

We just announced the preliminary line-up for Queers Destroy Horror!, the special issue of Nightmare Magazine that I’m guest editing. I’ve gotten to work with some pretty amazing writers (Caitlín R. Kiernan! Poppy Z. Brite! Favorite author who is still top-secret and cannot be named!!!!) and our editorial staff has been incredible.

For the announcement, visit the DestroySF website.

A new story out today!

I’m delighted to announce that my story “Three Small Slices of Pumpkin Pie” is up today on Farrago’s Wainscot. The magazine focuses on the literary weird, and I’m happy to say I share a Table of Contents with the wonderful Hal Duncan, whose grasp of language is spectacular.

This is one of my favorite pieces that I’ve ever written, so it’s wonderful to be able to share it with other people.

Cthulhu Boogaloo

Here in Stumptown this weekend was CthulhuCon, sort of a snack-sized Lovecraftian convention to tide over fans until H.P. Lovecraft Film Fest returns to its October slot. I made it to the con on Saturday and had a wonderful time. Tons of friends had showed up, and the programming was incredible. Highlights included tremendous art, panels with Lovecraftian scholars S. T. Joshi and Leslie Klinger, gaming creatives Kenneth Hite and Robin D. Laws, visits from the Lovecraft impersonator Leeman Kessler, and a delightful performance by Mike Dalager–the musical mind behind the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society’s new album of Innsmouthian jazz standards, Live at the Gilman House. Let me just tell you: if you like musicals, you won’t be truly happy until you’ve heard “My Funny Valentine” with all-new tentacular lyrics.

cthulhu_fhtagnWith all this squamous, cthonic energy in the air, it makes sense that Word Horde revealed the cover of their new anthology: CTHULHU FHTAGN! This is the third Lovecraftian anthology editor Ross Lockhart has put together, and the line-up looks terrific. I’m very excited about my story in the book, “The Long Dark,” which is a SFnal take on Lovecraft, with an ending I really enjoyed writing.

On the editing front, I’m reading submissions for Nightmare Magazine‘s Queers Destroy Horror! special issue this month. I’m having a great time reading all these dark stories, and I think the issue will be fantastic. Look for it in October!

Personally, I’m facing a delightful challenge: I’m working on my first campaign for our Call of Cthulhu role-playing group. I’ve never been a game master before, but it’s my turn to step up to the plate and scare/torment/entertain my gaming group. Fingers are crossed that I don’t suck!

Headed for the Hugos!

This weekend the Hugo awards ballot was announced, and I’m delighted to say  that Lightspeed was nominated for in the Best Semiprozine category. Despite the intense social issues stirred up by the Hugo awards this year, I am still really excited to see my name on the ballot. Seriously, you have no idea how many times I’ve said “Wendy N. Wagner, Hugo nominee” to myself the past few days!

Working at Lightspeed (and her wonderful sister-magazine, Nightmare) has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I’ve gotten to talk about writing with some of the finest writers working in the SF/F/H genres right now, and I’ve learned an enormous amount from them. I feel like my writing has been reinvigorated and I’ve made dozens of new friends that I treasure. Seeing all our hard work recognized by fandom is incredibly, incredibly wonderful.

Dang it, now I’m teary.

This reviewer melted my heart

A lot of writers don’t read reviews of their work, but I enjoy reading them. I feel like I learn a lot about how to do my job better when I read what people think of my work (although there have definitely been a few reviews that hurt!). So the other day, I was excited to see a new review for Skinwalkers up on the Paizo forums. User chrisb71 said:

“Moreover all the main characters are female, which is nice to see women being portrayed as normal, 3 dimensional people rather than afterthoughts. If you want fiction for a daughter that is not typical romance or girl waiting for the boy to rescue her, then look into this.”

I couldn’t ask for a better compliment!

Welcome to my office!

We’ve never had a tv in the living room before. Back when we lived in SE Portland, we kept our tv in the basement, where it was dark and cold and creepy and perfect for playing Resident Evil. When we moved to our new house, we couldn’t figure out where to put the tv–the fireplace in the living room blocked the most reasonable wall to put the darn thing, and the big front window cast a glare that made it hard to even see zombies on the screen, let alone be frightened of them. So we put the tv in the spare bedroom/office and suffered being cramped inside the tiny space.

Well, no longer. My genius husband reorganized the living room and helped me transform the spare bedroom into a more user-friendly office. In part, we were inspired by Guillermo del Toro’s Bleak House, which uses red walls to help showcase his vast collection of horror and SF art. Okay, when I say “in part,” I actually mean I said “LET’S REDO OUR WHOLE HOUSE LIKE BLEAK HOUSE!” and my husband convinced me that was maybe a little too much red. So now I have a wonderful red office to host my slowly growing horror and SF art collection, and I couldn’t be happier!

Here are some highlights:

 

my desk big
Someday, this wall will be almost entirely covered in art, but this is a good start. I think The Crow Witch (by the wonderful Galen Dara, as is the cute zombie valentine guy), needs to be a little closer to the monitor, but I was just recycling a pre-existing nail hole. The inspirational puppy was accidentally printed twice when I sent him along to an awesome friend, and I kept him because who doesn’t need a reminder they  have the power to be awesome?

You’ll also note some sundry fun stuff, like some Word Horde stickers spiffing up my printer, and a mailing label that dubs my house “Lightspeed Pacific Northwest HQ.” My own novel is on my desk because I’ve been working on the sequel and I can’t remember how to spell anyone’s name.

papier mache octopusBehind me is a futon (perfect for guests!) and a bookshelf with this paper mache octopus I made for Halloween. (At Halloween, I put orange LED candles in his eye sockets, giving him a baleful glare.) You can see a John Kovalic Cthulhu behind him, happily nibbling on people as he tries to choose which Stephen King novel to read next. Because of course the top shelf of my office bookshelf is devoted to Stephen King!

What you can’t see is the window off to my left, which has a big rhododendron growing in front of it. This lets in a mysterious green light that makes the space feel like writing from inside a magical jungle or perhaps another dimension.

It’s nice to be surrounded by so much inspiration. I’ve been getting  a lot done over the past few months: I’ve almost finished polishing the  sequel to Skinwalkers; I’ve written a couple of short stories; I’ve edited a ton of essays for Queers Destroy Science Fiction. I’m also really excited about some recent successes. Right now the Kickstarter is up for Genius Loci, which will feature my magical Eastern Washington story, “Scab Land.” The book design looks beautiful, so make sure you get a copy of that book.

The folks over at Innsmouth Free Press also just announced the table of contents for their upcoming Lovecraftian anthology She Walks in Shadows, which has a super awesome cover. My story “Queen of a New America” will appear in that one, and I really enjoyed writing it.

It’s all keeping me really busy, but I’m still managing to get in plenty of horror reading and gameplay. In fact, tomorrow we get to start playing a new Call of Cthulhu campaign–it’ll be my daughter’s first experience as GM, and she promises it’ll be fun!

 

Women Destroy: an update on Hugo eligibility

Smarter people than me have weighed in on the Hugo eligibility of the Women Destroy projects. It sounds like the issues are unlikely candidates for the Best Related Work category. (Sorry! I know my last post said it was!)

I was a little bummed out to hear it, because I think the Women Destroy special issues are some of the most exciting work that happened last year, with an unusual positive message of inclusivity and empowerment. I also think the Women Destroy projects brought together fiction and nonfiction in a particularly resonant way, and I don’t think we see those two forms brought together in synergy nearly enough.

As I’ve mentioned before, the individual pieces within the special issues can all be nominated for awards. Each nonfiction piece does qualify for Best Related Work, including the multi-author Editorials. I personally think the editorials do an exceptional job explaining the genesis of the projects and expressing the unique spirit of destruction.

Whatever happens, I know I’m looking forward to the big awards party in Spokane this year. 2014 had a bumper crop of great work, and I think science fiction and fantasy should be proud of itself.

2014: my work in glossy review

2014 was a pretty good year for me. I spent a lot of time with my family, started playing Call of Cthulhu (the RPG), and learned a lot about editing. I got to go camping and took a quick trip to Seattle, where I finally got to tour the Seattle Underground, which was just as epically weird and historical as I was hoping. [Pro-tip: Allergic to mold? Take a Claritin before you go down there! Yeesh.]

On the work front, I had some stuff come out:

Novel

 Skinwalkers — This came out in April from Paizo Press’s Pathfinder Tales line. If you love adventure, you should check out this story of a retired Viking pirate mama fighting barbarians and dealing with family drama. If you read it and loved it, be sure to share a great review. It’s totally eligible for the Scribe Award for tie-in writing or the Origins award for game-related products.

Short fiction

“Bread Crumbs,” Tell Me A Fable. A. W. Gifford & Jennifer L. Gifford, ed. Dark Opus Press — this came out in February. It’s a fun Lovecraftian retelling of Hansel and Gretel, and it was a blast to write.

Winter’s Wolves,” Pathfinder Tales — this came out in March. If you need a quick action romp with giants and wolves with frost breath, this piece will scratch that itch.

“Words of Power,” Shattered ShieldsJennifer Brozek & Bryan Thomas Schmidt, ed. Baen Books — this came out in November. If you liked my story “The Secret of Calling Rabbits,” then you’ll probably like this sweet story about a golem in an alternate history World War I. I loved the setting!

Nonfiction Editing

Women Destroy Science Fiction!, Lightspeed Magazine — This was released in June. This double (more than double, actually!) issue devoted to the work and experiences of women in the science fiction community was the work of more than 100 women, and I got to serve as both the Managing and Nonfiction Editor of the piece. NPR named it one of 2014’s best  books of the year. I feel the personal essay section packs a tremendous emotional punch! Because of the incredible amount of nonfiction in this work, it stands out from an anthology, and qualifies for the Hugo for Best Related Work. (See explanatory post.)

Women Destroy Fantasy!, Fantasy Magazine — This was released in October. Another double issue devoted to the work and experiences of women, but this time focused on the fantasy genre. There are no personal essays in this one, but as the Nonfiction Editor of this one, I am incredibly proud of the nonfiction in this piece, including the in-depth discussion of women in genre illustration and design. This also qualifies for the Hugo for Best Related Work. (See explanatory post.)

I think both of these collections are amazing. WDSF is a real stand-out for the sheer quantity of material, with 7 large articles or essays and 29 short form essays, all of it ranging from work by best-selling authors to new writers just breaking into the field.

So if you’re nominating for the Hugos this year, don’t brush off the Best Related Work category. Here are two collections that deserve your attention!

 

 

 

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